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For more than a decade, courts and legislatures throughout Latin America have found that civil remedies provide adequate redress in cases of libel and slander. Over this period, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights -- an autonomous judicial institution, which is part of the human rights protection system of the Organization of American States (OAS) -- has issued key decisions supporting press freedom, including a 2004 landmark ruling that struck down a criminal defamation conviction of a Costa Rican journalist.

During a meeting with CPJ, and representatives from Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders at the president's
executive office in Montevideo, the political capital, the former member of the
leftist guerrilla group Tupamaros reflected on the upcoming congressional
debate over new broadcast legislation. "It is our duty to ensure universal
access to radio and television and contribute to freedom of information,"
Mujica added.

The OAS extraordinary
assembly, held at the organization's headquarters in Washington, D.C. on
Friday, adopted a resolution by which the 35 member states ratified the ability
of the commission to continue receiving voluntary contributions. Analysts and
human rights advocates say the decision was a blow to countries of the
Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas, known as ALBA, which have been pushing to
preclude outside funding for the IACHR.

Dear OAS Ministers of Foreign Affairs: Ahead of the assembly of the Organization of American States on Friday, the Committee to Protect Journalists urges you to oppose any attempts to debilitate the regional human rights system. The failure of member states to preserve the autonomy and independence of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and its special rapporteur on freedom of expression would make citizens throughout the hemisphere more vulnerable to human rights violations and represent a blow to democracy in the Americas.

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"Leave me in peace. Wallow
in your garbage," Brazilian Chief Justice Joaquim Barbosa said in a rage when
a reporter with one of the leading national newspapers, O Estado de Sao Paulo, tried
to ask him a question Tuesday at a meeting of the National Council of Justice
in Brasilia, the capital. Stunned by Barbosa's reaction, the journalist
demanded an explanation. "You are a clown," was the response he received from the
president of Brazil's highest court.

In more than a decade in power, President Hugo Chávez Frías has
overseen the transformation of nearly every aspect of Venezuelan society,
including the media. When Chávez came to office in 1999, he enjoyed the support
of the country’s established private media. But the relationship soon soured,
and in April 2002 he was briefly deposed in a coup that he alleges was carried
out with the support of key media owners. Today, several of the most critical
media outlets are either gone or scared into silence, and a vast state media
presence echoes the government’s positions. By Joel Simon